This invention relates to the construction industry generally, and, specifically, to the construction of semi-permanent walls using non-load bearing, structural studs.
It is common practice in modern office buildings to construct each floor of such buildings with few, or no, permanent interior walls. Instead, temporary walls are installed in accordance with the particular requirements of each tenant in the building. By so doing, space utilization is maximized since each individual tenant need lease only so much space as is necessary for his particular enterprise.
The conventional method of constructing temporary walls is to secure traugh-shaped, or U-shaped, tracks to the ceiling and to the floor along the lines of the desired wall. A structural stud having approximately the same width as the track, and having a length approximately equal to the distance between floor and ceiling, is placed in the track perpendicular to the floor and ceiling. The stud is then secured in this position in the track by implacing a screw through the side wall of the track and into the stud at each point where the track sidewall abutts the stud. The walls of the U-shaped track thus lie in juxtaposition over a portion of the stud. In like manner, several studs are positioned in the track. With the structural framework thus constructed, rectangular sections of dry wall, or the like, are then erected and secured to the several studs, thereby forming a wall. A multiplicity of such walls may be constructed which segregate the floor of the building into individual rooms, all as is well known to those skilled in the art.
While the conventional method of securing the stud to the track, i.e., with the use of screws, results in a satisfactorily stable arrangement, the implacement of screws is costly, due to not only equipment and materials, but also to the man-hours necessary to carry out the operation. In addition, removal of the screws during a dismantling operation is extremely time consuming. There exists, therefore, a need for a less complex, more economical method of stabilizing semi-permanent, non-load bearing, structural studs, which avoids the use of screws and the like.